Last year, Florida Highway Patrol troopers responded to 32 fatal pedestrian crashes in Orange County, almost double the number for 2011. On average, two pedestrians are hurt each day.

WESH 2 set up a camera on Semoran Boulevard, and in 15 minutes, it captured close calls, near misses and narrow escapes.

"I think it's dangerous. I think you need to make sure you look both ways before you cross the street," said one person WESH 2 cameras caught crossing.

"I'm trying to get across the street. What can you do?" said another.

Crossing the street outside a crosswalk is dangerous, but it's not always illegal.

The law says pedestrians only have to cross at a crosswalk when the two closest intersections have signals. Otherwise, crossing mid-block is legal, as long as pedestrians cross at a right angle to the curb, and yield the right of way to cars.

But Florida's roads are designed to move many cars as quickly as possible, meaning long blocks between signals, fast speeds and lots of lanes. A $350,000 Central Florida initiative is trying to change the engineering of our roads, such as adding crosswalks and better signage.

Law enforcement is also cracking down.

In January, the Orlando Police Department handed out 22 tickets to pedestrians for jaywalking.

But can more be done?

"For one, public education, what you're doing right here, getting that word out there. If there's a crosswalk nearby, you need to use that crosswalk. We see a lot of our accidents don't occur within the crosswalk," said Orlando police Sgt. Jim Young.

Florida's Department of Transportation is also launching an awareness campaign.

The state is sponsoring the No. 87 car driven by Joe Nemechek at Daytona International Speedway this weekend.

The campaign's slogan, "Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow," is written across the hood of the car.